Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A-level (Advanced Level)

The General Certificate of Education (Advanced Level), more commonly known as the A-level, is usually taken by students after the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). One of the most widely recognized qualifications for entry into a degree program at universities worldwide; the GCE A-level is administered through a few examination boards. In Malaysia, most of the A-level programs are administered through the Cambridge International Examination (CIE) and Edexcel International.

In 2001, the A level was split into 2 phases – the AS (Advanced Subsidiary) and A2 examinations. Satisfactory achievement in units at both levels will then result in the award of an A level qualification.

The A level examinations are highly specialized and the minimum number of A levels required for entrance into universities is usually 3. Students should seek advice on the subject combination that they should take in order to pursue undergraduate degree programs after A Level.

Entry RequirementsSPM, O-levels or its equivalent with 5 credits including English, mathematics / science and a pass in Bahasa Melayu.

Duration1 – 2 years (depending on which intake and college)

IntakeJanuary, March and July

FeeRM16,000 for 3 subjects and RM18,000 for 4 subjects

SubjectsThe list of subjects offered in the A level programs differs slightly from one institutions to another. It is thus advisable to check with an institution before registering with it.

The more common subjects offered by most institutions are as follows:

General paper (compulsory)

Mathematics

Further mathematics (must be taken with mathematics)

Physics

Chemistry

Biology

Accounting

Computing

Business studies

Economics

Law

Psychology

Sociology

English literature

Thinking skills

In addition to these subjects, students will have to study the compulsory MQA subjects which include : Malaysian studies, moral/Islamic studies and Bahasa Malaysia (exempted if a credit in Bahasa Malaysia has been obtained at SPM Level)

AssessmentWith the introduction of the 2 phases, students wishing to obtain their A-level have to take the AS qualification in an examination session and the final part of the assessment (A2) in a subsequent session. These examinations are all set and marked by the CIE examiners. Liked this post?Subscribe now to read more post like this one!Tweet

32 comments:

definitely a-level will stand a better chance in getting for medical and scholarships.As for AUSMAT,it's easy to score as it will be 50% coursework & 50% exams.If you want to have a strong foundation,I suggest that you take A-level.

Well, many students are discouraged from taking A-levels because they think it is stressful (due to its 100% examination assessment), so they end up taking ICPU or worst, SAM.

actually the A-levels is actually quite chillexing compared to the both pre-u mentioned above. Both ICPU and SAM need CONSISTENCY. You have to finish your assignments perfectly almost once in a week or 2 weeks. and because the duration of ICPU and SAM are short, plus the number of subjects u're required to take (5 and 6, compared to A-levels max only 4), the stress level is actually higher.

For a-levels, u can study on your own pace, and do things chillexingly. And u can choose to love yourself more by taking only 3 subjects. Even entrance into Oxford needs only 3A's in A-levels, why punish yourself?

I'd highly recomment students to consider about the A-levels program because it is a really good foundation and it is prestigious

Hi, i'm an a-level student. I'm going to further my medical degree in Australia. I'll be sit for ISAT in a week time. Because of the sample test is very limited, can u briefly give some tips on answering the questions and the pattern of the questions?

guys, im doing my a-levels right now.(1st sem nie)ahha.mmm...and im planning to do marine engineering and my intake is next year july, right after my AS.just wanna knw.would my AS cert be any value?or would it be useless?ahah.thnks guys.

I am a student who previously did A levels and found it tough to cope with jst memorising from the books.. it was pretty much Spm like kind of education.. i then switched to ICPU and found it really interesting as there are a wide variety subject choices to choose from and the type of teaching there..It was indeed a great decision to make at that time to switch my course before it was too late.. now at Uni it has made life easier cause we practise the same kind of learning there.. =)

hye, i'm a malaysian student and currently in UK taking GCSE and i'm 16 and i'm going back to malaysia after i finished my gcse. the probs here is that i'm afraid it would be hard for me to take A level in malaysia beause it is said that i have to take july bm paper to get qualified and mybe there's gonna be problems with the result of my gcse with standard result in malaysia. i've discussed this thing with my dad and my dad have also been asking people he knows about gcse qualification in university/ college in malaysia. what do you think i have to do because it's almost the date that we are going back to malaysia for good and i'm going to be screwed if the problems occur later back in malaysia. really need as much 'actual advice' as possible. my dad says that another choice is taking spm which i'm going to work my socks off to get a splendid result and i don't think that's going to happen because my sejarah and other subjects flew away from my mind. i can't remember anything about it. please someone help me! [email protected]

Hi, I'm Stella, SPM holderI am planning to taking A-Levels after my SPM.I want to study Medicine.But I didn't take Biology in SPM.I take physic, chemistry , engineering drawing and other current subjects in my SPM.So, can I take A-Levels science? or AUSMAT.And which college is better?

I finish my SPM and am currently taking my A-level in Abbey College Cambridge in the UK. I took up Biology,Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Economics. The College has provide a good education for us international students. You should consider coming here for your A-level studies. Many ex-Abbey students have been admitted to top ranked university in the UK and USA.

well we are student advisor from north malaysia…our company has been more then 15 years(GLOBAL TRAINING CENTER) ,and so far we already help alot of foreign and malaysia student to achieve their career..you can go to our website to check the course that we offer which so demand and well paid…for more info please go through our website www.globaltrainingcenter.com.my regards ramana

May peace be upon all,To all: A'Levels can take you in any part of the world with reputation in any prestigious career but it just takes long time and you have to find quality lectures so that you don't fall into the 'memorizing type' standard.

Now, I am a foreigner, Would any 1 suggest an A'Level takes less then a year. Kindly, name some good institutes to do it, reasonable fees with quality teaching. Or any good tutor's contact for those who plans to do it in British Council.(Science stream)As for FoundationProgramme: foundation in an affordable (public or private) institute which is recognized in prestigious Uni's like UM, UTM, Nottingham etc. I am into IT, Network Eng., Software Eng., Telecommunication Eng. (mostly technology).

Undergraduate: Right Universities for my subjects, where they provide good understanding with practical/hands-on-experience skills rather than those 'complicated theory type' teaching.

I Really really need some useful information & Sincere advice at this old stage of my life with delayed years of education.

Comment Policy: Comments posted at Malaysia Students blog should be on-topic, constructive and add value to the discussion. Comments that are off-topic, one-sentence, abusive or offensive will be removed. Please use proper English with correct spelling and grammar in your comment. For general questions, please post them at SPM Student Malaysia. For enquiries, please email the administrator of this blog: Student at Malaysia-Students dot com.

Follow Us @ Google+

Sign Up* for FREE SPM Tips 2018

Limited Time BONUS:Get 10 latest pre-university and undergraduate scholarship offers for STPM and SPM 2017 result-holders*56,000++ students have signed up

Feel free to share our posts with your friends at Facebook, Twitter or reposting at your blog if you find them helpful,resourceful and insightful! Please provide a link back to the original post. Thanks for sharing!